Her illness came after partying at the Bond premiere on Tuesday and fellow contestant Rylan Clark’s 24th birthday bash on Wednesday.

She was too ill to rehearse on Thursday and angry viewers hit out when she did not perform, with one tweeting: “If she stopped boozing we might have some sympathy.”

Lucy, from Sheffield, was kicked out of a posh hotel earlier this month for being drunk.

She goes through to the next round automatically but the source said: “Lucy might quit – she’s tired of being told off. She doesn’t want to sing covers. She was loving it but she’s unwell, which is making her negative.”

A show spokeswoman insisted Lucy would be back, explaining: “She is very happy show-wise.”

Meanwhile, Tulisa refused to accept an apology from Gary after he moaned about her “fag-ash breath” when she criticised his act Christopher Maloney.

Gary said sorry on ITV2 spin-off The Xtra Factor, but Tulisa slammed him for “resorting to primary school comments”.

Jade Ellis, 25, was sent home last night after Gary Barlow cast the deciding vote.